Staying Safe from Cybercrime

A recent survey by security firm Norton showed that one in five respondents had been a victim of cybercrime. On average, the victims lost 20 hours dealing with the impact and $545 each in the past year.

The survey was conducted with 1,009 people in Singapore aged 18 and above who own at least one mobile device.

Although 80% of respondents worry about falling victim to cybercrime and know the risk of sharing e-mail passwords, a fifth of them share their passwords with at least one other person, and nearly a quarter do not password-protect their devices.

Latest police statistics also indicate a rising trend of cheating cases involving e-commerce, from 510 cases in 2013 to 1,659 last year.

Cybercrime covers a range of attacks. This includes extracting data on magnetic stripes on credit and debit cards and using it to clone cards, hackers stealing private data when victims unknowingly download a Trojan horse virus, and extracting data from a lost or stolen mobile device.

Mr Gavin Lowth, Norton's vice-president of consumer and small business in the Asia-Pacific and Japan, was once a victim of cybercrime. His advice is to always monitor financial accounts for unusual activity, use a unique password for all accounts online, change passwords regularly, and avoid clicking on attachments or links in suspicious e-mail.